Cruz Hewitt takes expectation and Nick Kyrgios jokes in his stride ahead of Australian Open debut
Share:
The teenager long ago outgrew his legendary father, has been prominent at the Davis Cup, and has already sparked an off-court controversy with Nick Kyrgios. Yet Cruz Hewitt hasn’t yet made his formal Australian Open debut. The son of Lleyton and Bec Hewitt is just 16, but at 1.88m already towers over Australia’s Davis Cup captain and two-time grand slam winner. And despite ranking in the 1200s and with just six ATP rankings points to his name (the world No 1, Jannik Sinner has 11,030), Hewitt has already become the talking point in the grand slam’s opening week.
![[Cruz Hewitt and father Lleyton at the Tennis Australia Newcombe Medal in December 2024.]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/7040ed641dff5206d012389da871988b1de1e985/270_1_2337_1403/master/2337.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
Ahead of a qualifier against Georgian Nikoloz Basilashvili this week, the Australian shared a practice hit with defending champion Sinner at Melbourne Park on the weekend. Afterwards, he posted an image of the session alongside an older photo, depicting the pair from five years ago, when the Australian barely measured up to Sinner’s chest.
![[Cruz Hewitt’s practice hit with world No 1 Jannik Sinner drew the ire of Nick Kyrgios on social media.]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/fed43c2eaa48c2969d6c747155ecc8f4992eb3cb/0_127_3000_1801/master/3000.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
The post sparked a social media storm thanks to a comment from Kyrgios, who has been outspoken in his criticism of players to receive doping violations. Sinner tested positive for a banned substance last year but avoided a ban. “Love ya Cruz but this is wild”, Kyrgios replied, before adding “cooked post” with a needle emoji. Following widespread backlash, Kyrgios sought to play down his intervention, saying on social media the comments were a joke.
